http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf438nb04r No online items Guide to the Roger Kent Papers, [ca. 1947-1974] Processed by The Bancroft Library staff The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California, 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu © 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Note Social Sciences --Political Science --State GovernmentSocial Sciences --Political Science --Federal GovernmentHistory --History, California --GeneralGeographical (by Place) --California Guide to the Roger Kent Papers, BANC MSS 74/160 c 1 [ca. 1947-1974] Guide to the Roger Kent Papers, [ca. 1947-1974] Collection number: BANC MSS 74/160 c The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California Contact Information: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California, 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu Processed by: The Bancroft Library staff Date Completed: ca. July 1975 Encoded by: Xiuzhi Zhou © 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Collection Summary Collection Title: Roger Kent Papers, Date (inclusive): [ca. 1947-1974] Collection Number: BANC MSS 74/160 c Creator: Kent, Roger, 1906-1980 Extent: Number of containers: 31 boxes and 3 cartons Repository: The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California 94720-6000 Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Abstract: Letters addressed to Kent; copies of his replies and subject files which include clippings, notes, speeches, press releases and ephemeral printed material. $b Documenting Kent's role in Democratic Party politics - his campaigns for Congress, his leadership as head of the California Democratic State Central Committee and as chairman and co-chairman of various local and state political campaigns. Languages Represented: English Access Collection is open for research. Publication Rights Guide to the Roger Kent Papers, BANC MSS 74/160 c 2 [ca. 1947-1974] Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Roger Kent Papers, BANC MSS 74/160 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Acquisition Information The collection of his correspondence and papers came to The Bancroft Library by various gifts of Mr. Kent and the Democratic State Central Committee from 1965 through 1974. Biographical Sketch Roger Kent was born on June 8, 1906, in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of seven children of William and Elizabeth (Thacher) Kent. William Kent (1864-1928) was a prominent Progressive Republican who served as independent Congressman from the California First Congressional District from 1911 to 1917 and later was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to a four year term on the U.S. Tariff Commission. Elizabeth (Thacher) Kent (1868-1952) was a leader in the women's suffrage movement. Roger Kent attended Washington D.C. and Marin County public schools and Thacher School at Ojai, California. He was graduated from Yale in 1928 and from Yale Law School in the class of 1931. In 1930, he married Alice Cooke of Honolulu. Starting in 1931, Kent was employed as an attorney with the San Francisco law firm of Chickering & Gregory until he resigned in 1936 to become senior attorney in the San Francisco regional office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Following 3 1/2 years of service in the Navy, Kent became a partner in the new San Francisco law firm of Crimmins, Kent, Bradley & Burns in April 1946. Kent has been associated with the firm to the present with the exception of a leave of absence from March 1952 to May 1953 when he was General Counsel for the Department of Defense and, briefly, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. Kent registered in the Democratic Party in 1928 and ran for Congress in the First Congressional District in 1948 and 1950. Though not nominated, he received more votes than any other candidate on both political tickets in the 1948 primary. In 1950 he lost to the Republican incumbent after nomination. From December 1953 to August 1954, Kent was the Northern California chairman of the Richard Graves for Governor Committee and was elected chairman of the Northern California Division of the Democratic State Central Committee later in 1954. Because of his outspoken California political leadership, Kent served an unprecedented tenure, alternating every two years as either chairman or vice chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee from 1954 to 1965. During this period, he was also active in the 1956 Presidential campaign of Adlai Stevenson, and served as state chairman of the 1960 Kennedy-Johnson campaign, Northern California chairman of the 1962 Edmund G. Brown for Governor campaign, Northern California chairman of the 1964 Johnson-Humphrey campaign and as co-chairman of the Committee to Re-Elect Governor Brown. He also served as a member of the Postmaster General's Stamp Advisory Committee in 1961 and as chairman of the Western States Democratic Conference from 1962 to 1965. The Kent family resides at Kentfield in Marin County, California. Scope and Content The collection consists of 31 boxes and 3 cartons and documents Kent's political activities for the period from 1947 through early 1974. The correspondence prior to 1954 primarily relates to his campaigns for Congress and his positions with the Department of Defense; the material for the period 1954-1965 to his leadership as head of the California Democratic State Central Committee and chairman and co-chairman of various local and state political campaigns. The correspondence after 1965 includes many candid assessments and discussions with leading local, state and national figures and political aspirants regarding a variety of liberal contemporary issues. The collection comprises letters addressed to Kent together with copies of his replies; personalia; a diary; speeches; memoranda; photographs and portraits; clippings; and a general subject file. Most of the portraits have been removed and indexed separately in the portrait collection. The Papers as a whole are described in greater detail in the Key to Arrangement which follows. Note Additional Roger Kent letters are with the Kent family papers at Yale University. Guide to the Roger Kent Papers, BANC MSS 74/160 c 3 [ca. 1947-1974] Key to Arrangement Boxes 1-31 Correspondence: Letters written to Kent and copies of his replies. Scope and Content Note Include many letters written while General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense, 1952-1953; Chairman or Vice Chairman of the California Democratic State Central Committee, 1954-1965; and Chairman of the Western States Democratic Conference, 1962-1965. Arrangement Arranged alphabetically. A partial list of significant correspondents follows the Key to Arrangement. Unlisted letters are arranged alphabetically in miscellanies preceding each letter of the alphabet. Ctn. 1 Personalia Scope and Content Note Financial statements, biographical sketches, certificates, bills, receipts, etc. Diary, Jan. -May 1953 Additional Note Typescript by Kent re the administration change-over in the U.S. Dept. of Defense Speeches and prepared remarks, 1950-1974 Physical Description: Four folders Additional Note Reading copies, notes and drafts; many prepared for delivery by Kent over KPFA Radio. Memoranda, 1954-1971 Physical Description: Two folders Additional Note Printed memos and memoranda to candidates, county Democratic chairmen, etc., together with related drafts and notes. Photographs and portraits Additional Note Primarily duplicate portraits. Most of the portraits have been removed and indexed separately in the portrait collection. Clippings Watergate: Richard Nixon, Robert Haldeman, Spiro Agnew, etc. Anti-ballistic missile system Unsorted. Physical Description: Physical Description: Two folders Ctn. 1-3 Subject files Scope and Content Note Include printed material, press releases, notes, etc. Arrangement Arranged alphabetically. Ctn. 1 Abolish Cross Filing in California Committee, 1951 Scope and Content Note Clippings, notes, brochures, etc. Guide to the Roger Kent Papers, BANC MSS 74/160 c 4 [ca. 1947-1974] Key to Arrangement Address lists Scope and Content Note Rosters and addresses of various campaign contributors, committees, chairmen and candidates Americans for Democratic Action, 1962 Scope and Content Note Printed matter Bricker Resolution, 1952-1954 Physical Description: Two folders Scope and Content Note Press releases, statements, briefings, affidavits and remarks re the Bricker Resolution in Congress re foreign treaties and executive agreements. California Democratic Council, 1956 Scope and Content Note Litigation, legal briefs California Federation of Young Democrats Scope and Content Note Rosters, minutes, resolutions, printed matter, etc. California Labor Federation, July 25, 1962 Scope and Content Note Printed statement before the platform committee of the State Democratic Convention Ctn. 2 Case Against Capital Punishment,The,